BINGHAMTON, NY – Marsha Linehan will present "Suicide: Where We Are, Where We’re Going and What’s Keeping Us From Getting There" as part of the 2015 Stephen A. Lisman Annual Lecture in Clinical Psychology at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, in Binghamton University’s Mandela Room, on campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The presentation will discuss where the field of suicide intervention research started, the successes and failures that have been encountered thus far, as well as the critical issues that still need to be addressed in order to move the field forward. It will include a summary of the suicide intervention research trials to date and the directions the field is heading toward addressing the complex problem of suicidal behavior.

Linehan is a professor of psychology and of psychiatry and behavioral science at the University of Washington. She is the founder and director of the university’s Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics treating high suicide-risk and difficult-to-treat adolescents and adults. Her primary research is in the development and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for high suicide-risk, multi-diagnostic and difficult-to-treat populations with severe mental disorders.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an American dies by suicide every 12.95 minutes.

Linehan — the inaugural speaker for the Stephen A. Lisman Annual Lecture in Clinical Psychology series — wants to make that number a thing of the past by talking about the present and improving the future.

"There is no area of research that brings a complex array of ethical issues into sharp focus more than conducting treatment trials when the focus is on decreasing suicidal behavior and preventing suicide," Linehan said. "Historically, suicidal individuals have been excluded from treatment studies because their inclusion was thought to be unethical, unsafe or too difficult to manage clinically."

The Stephen A. Lisman Annual Lecture in Clinical Psychology was established in 2015 to sponsor an annual lecture given by top clinical psychologists in the nation. The lecture series is in honor of Lisman’s 41 years of service and his contributions to Binghamton University and the clinical psychology field. The series is meant to enhance the quality of training and education and expose students, faculty and the Binghamton community to important topics in the profession.